Hoffman win would be great, says … Michael Steele?

posted at 8:11 am on October 31, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Friday that a victory by Doug Hoffman, the third-party candidate in the Nov. 3 New York special election, is a win for the GOP.

The actual Republican nominee, Dede Scozzafava, trails Hoffman, the Conservative Party nominee, and Democrat Bill Owens by double-digits according to a recent poll. But Steele argued during an interview with POLITICO that the GOP doesn’t need to worry about Scozzafava’s lagging ratings because Hoffman is essentially a Republican.

“You’ve got two Republicans running in that race. My upside is that one of them will likely win,” Steele said. “We want to be supporting the one that wins.” …

Asked if he would support Hoffman in 2010 if the Conservative Party candidate won the special election and sought reelection, Steele responded: “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Is he a Republican?” Steele asked. “He’s the Conservative Party nominee, but he ran initially as a Republican.”

Before anyone gets too huffy about Steele’s late conversion, let’s remember that the RNC had nothing to do with picking Scozzafava. That idea came from local party leaders, who anointed Dede Scozzafava themselves in a hurry for the special election. The RNC’s job is to elect the Republican in these races, so Steele never did have much of a range of options in the NY-23 special election.

Of course, that’s what makes this compelling. When the national chair of the party says that he’s perfectly happy with another candidate winning, it sends a big message to Republicans in the district, and it’s not “Go Dede!” In fact, Steele has it right about the next election, should Hoffman win; most Conservative Party candidates also run as Republicans in New York, as party endorsements are not exclusive. The only reason Hoffman hasn’t done so is because of the decision by county GOP heads to select Scozzafava for the endorsement.

The only people not on the Hoffman bandwagon now are Scozzafava herself and Newt Gingrich. Must be a lonely place to stand while the parade passes by.

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o/t: the House will begin debate on Pelosi’s socialized med bill next week. As a Virginian, I will be calling my Congressidjit (Perriello, Dem, 5th CD, VA) who said he really wanted to vote for it & would vote for it if the bill did not provide fed funding for abortions (doesn’t this bill still preserve that or is that one of the Senate bills?).

yall work on NY & NJ until Tues night, then come back & focus on socialized medicine.

Whether or not Hoffman wins in the general election, the conservatives have already won! We won’t stand for the RINO garbage that the RNC and GOP have subjected us to. That’s how we got in this mess! If it takes third parties to at least make them think, so be it. And if they won’t think, then we will pass them by.

Dede Scozzafava is a true democrat. There is no difference between her voting record and beliefs and 100% of the other elected officials that are democrat. The Republican party bosses in the 23rd district are Republican-Lite or RHINO.

So….this is what we get. Douglas Hoffman will win this thing and send a hammer-gram message to the Republican Party, change or be left behind.

I am really thrilled about how things are going for the GOP & the conservatives. We will win VA, come close, if not win, in NJ & may even beat Scozzawhatever in NY-23.

However, who in Congress cares? Name one Congressman (other than the hopefully new Cong. Hoffman) that will be moved by our resurgence? This is what is truly alarming.

the Townhalls had no impact except to stall socialized medicine–the new 1,900 bill from Congress is actually worse that HR 3200. Remember the Teaparties where we all chanted “no more bailouts”? well, we are set to bailout out GMAC (again) & maybe UPS.

and didn’t the cash-for-clunker-appliances pass the House already, too?

NY-23 is going to be the tea party statement that will rattle a lot of cages. They may not pay attention right now, but by December they will be looking at their own poll numbers and who is lining up against them for the 2010 race.

Believe me, 2010 is going to see a resurgence of conservatism in the GOP. But for many it will be too late and we shall cast them off to be future democraps.

the Townhalls had no impact except to stall socialized medicine–the new 1,900 bill from Congress is actually worse that HR 3200. Remember the Teaparties where we all chanted “no more bailouts”? well, we are set to bailout out GMAC (again) & maybe UPS.

kelley in virginia on October 31, 2009 at 8:57 AM

I think they did stall things, until now. The elections may give us some more breathing space, and hopefully by next legislative session they’ll be too neutered and worried about Nov. 2010 to try anything. Maybe wishful thinking. We probably need another, bigger march.

OT: Deeds in VA has started new adds. It is ENTIRELY shots from Obama’s 2008 campaign, saying (paraphrase): “Virginians made history by electing Hope & Change in 2008, let’s do it again: vote for Deeds.” Literally NOTHING about Deeds himself. Its so desperate, its hilarious.

The only people not on the Hoffman bandwagon now are Scozzafava herself and Newt Gingrich. Must be a lonely place to stand while the parade passes by.

Not so fast Ed. Chuckles and Mittens arn’t on the bandwagon either. A point which will hound them endlessly for the 2012 nomination. Sarah Palin created a litmus test and separated herself from the other 3 top names. Bleeding the life out of their future campaigns. Suckers.

I think it’s time we make the GOP the 3rd party and voting for them over conservatives is a wasted vote.

A party has to die some time, this is a perfect year to get rid of these liberals taking over the GOP and start fresh. It seems the RINO’s are now the establishment and guys like Jim DeMint are Republicans in name only now since they buck the “leaders” like Newt, McCain and Graham.

This is how the conservative revolution in going to happen. It ain’t gonna happen from the top down, waiting for the likes of Newt, Lindsay and John to make the changes…..it will be the PEOPLE who elect people like Hoffman and FORCE the leadership to either get on board or get off.

A Hoffman win will send shock waves across America. Tuesday could be a very important night.

Maybe the GOP is starting to “get it”. We don’t want their aisle crossing mealy mouth democrat lite candidates. GOP, it’s our way or the highway. Newt needs to go stack BB’s in a corner somewhere and get out of our way.

“Is he a Republican?” Steele asked. “He’s the Conservative Party nominee, but he ran initially as a Republican.”

Let me finish that quote for you Michael..
“and it wasn’t in the parties best interest to go with a radical conservative knowing it might draw a stark contrast to this present climate of hope and change”.

Your country is about to completely freakin’ blow up…the entire world has fallen in love with a G.D. marxist who is destroying the last greatest country of refuge for freedom (who has nice white teeth BTW) and that’s your response?

Michael Steele is slicker than Astroglide. While he appeals to me as quite buffoonish at times, I commend him for drawing more attention to the RNC. Howard Dean was a pretty effective spokesman for the DNC. Perhaps the post-Steele RNC is where the promise lies.
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darkness that called ogabe.

Still with “Ogabe” stuff? Are there any others out there who find this offensive and are willing to express their thoughts? I know many Republicans and some conservatives cringe when they hear stuff like this. Many are just too weak to speak freely. It’s sad that the party once fueled by the vigor of freedom fighters is running on fumes when it comes to issues of race.

I’ve read similar remarks about “Ogabe” hundreds of times here at Hot Air. One idiot actually tried to suggest that because the comparison stemmed from Mugabe’s devaluation of Zimbabwe’s national currnecy. Most others offer no such veil as to their intentions when using the obvious racial-taunt.
The “Ogabe” comments are just the tip of the iceberg. All I’m saying is good thing Barack Obama is not also gay.

I’m pretty glad that she dropped out, but that means many of her liberal voters will go back to the democrap Owens. It will be interesting to see the post drop out polls, but with only three days left the only true measure will be the actual polling places.

I feel sad that Newt neutered himself on this race. I think hanging around with Al Sharpton and trying to be the repubutante of the media like McCain was, may be leading him over to the dark side. I wonder when Newt will come out for Hoffman?

It is good to see people standing up to the spineless Republican party but I’m not so sure about jumping on the bandwagon of anyone who opposes the Republican status quo. It seems like anyone who stands up to the powers that be, gets a ringing endorsment: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. This is not necessarily a good plan of action. I don’t know much about Hoffman so I sincerely hope they know what their getting. It could end up a bite in the bu**.